It’s back to school time! My kids all started school last week and I am finally ready to start repinning fall things on Pinterest! New seasons and holidays are a great time to stop and think about ways you and your children can spread kindness so we came up with a list of 25 ways to make a difference this school year.
1. Donate school supplies.
2. Read…and read and read and read to a child!
3. Take food to your food pantry.
4. Wave at kids on school buses.
5. Feed the birds.
6. Draw a picture for your librarian.
7. Bring a treat for your bus driver.
8. Take bubbles to the playground.
9. Donate books to your school or public library.
10. Bring coffee (or tea) for your teachers.
11. Put a joke in your mailbox for your mail carrier.
12. Tape change to a parking meter.
13. Make a busy bag for younger siblings to do at big kid practices.
14. Take homemade play dough to a preschool teacher.
15. Rake leaves for a neighbor.
16. Donate outgrown school uniform clothes.
17. Go apple picking and give some to a neighbor.
18. Leave a letter in a library book.
19. Plant a tree.
20. Bring in cookies for the custodians.
21. Start stocking up on toys for Toys for Tots or your local toy drive.
22. Volunteer to read to a class at your local school–even if you don’t have kids there.
23. Tape sticker sheets to the playground equipment for kids to find.
24. Donate to No Kid Hungry to help support school breakfast.
25. Leave a note telling your child how proud you are of them in their backpack or lunch box.
I could go on and on and on! It’s so easy to get your kids involved in doing acts of kindness for others this fall. What ways will you make a difference this school year?
We have even more ideas on our printable 100 Acts of Kindness for Kids printable to get you started!
Debi @ DebiStangeland.com says
August 26, 2013 at 10:21 amAwesome! I love these suggestions Megan. What a wonderful way to show love to your community. We’re going to keep this list and do some of them for sure!!
Kristen Jeffery says
August 26, 2013 at 9:32 pmLove it! We homeschool and I can use several of these tips! Welcome to Social Fabric!
Megan Sheakoski says
August 27, 2013 at 4:44 pmYay! Thank you so much Kristen!!!!
Lara Eastburn says
August 30, 2013 at 3:54 pmLove this article – thank you for sharing. Another thing we do each year is donate money for the few kids who can’t afford to go on field trips. It’s anonymous, easy, and makes a HUGE difference 🙂
Megan Sheakoski says
September 1, 2013 at 3:01 pmLara I LOVE that idea!!! We are going to do that in our family too! Thanks for sharing!!!
Lisa says
September 4, 2013 at 1:44 amI love this list! I represent a group called Gift of Knowledge, and would love to share your list on our Facebook page. Would that be ok?
Megan Sheakoski says
September 4, 2013 at 11:09 amThanks! I’d love for you to help spread the word!
Anna@The Measured Mom says
September 7, 2013 at 3:20 pmSuch a great list, Megan! Thanks so much for sharing it at the After School linky!
Megan Sheakoski says
September 9, 2013 at 9:07 amThanks so much Anna!
Natalie says
September 8, 2013 at 10:35 amI love all these ideas, and we plan to do many of them! Thanks for sharing with Afterschool!
Megan Sheakoski says
September 9, 2013 at 9:06 amThanks Natalie!!!
Jacquie@KCEdventures says
September 13, 2013 at 12:09 amHi Megan,
Love, LOVE this list! Such simple ways to brighten someones day and make a difference in the world. I wanted to let you know that I have to remove the post from our Discover & Explore linky only because it doesn’t fit with our forest theme this week BUT I made sure to pin the post first because it’s one that deserves to be shared!
Megan Sheakoski says
September 16, 2013 at 8:23 pmYou are so sweet! Thank you!
Judy Bartkowiak says
December 9, 2014 at 4:57 pmI’m co-writing a series of chapter books with the JNP Project – http://www.thejnpproject.com and one of the titles is about Kindness. I love these ideas and as a Parent and child NLP coach I find that parents so often focus on their child’s academic achievements and don’t notice qualities like kindness which are so important in life.
Agnes says
September 8, 2015 at 9:16 pmGreat ideas….pay it forward…
Lily says
May 10, 2019 at 3:40 pmthis is the best website ever